ZUMA OWES NATION AN APOLOGY" SAYS IFP PRESIDENT

I have taken note of comments made by President Jacob Zuma over the weekend, during the voter registration drive, in which he likened voting for the ANC to choosing to go to heaven, and voting for opposition parties as choosing the devil.

I find these comments utterly distasteful, disgraceful and unacceptable.

They amount to nothing more than outright manipulation and intimidation of the South African voter, by exploiting that which the majority of our people hold sacred; their religion.

President Zuma's statement is a direct attack on opposition party leaders, and their supporters. It is another clear indication that the ANC is not willing to play by the rules as we approach the 2011 elections.

The ruling party has proven time and time again that it will do anything to secure votes. It is willing to buy votes through the one-food-parcel-one-vote system. Now it wants to mobilize support along religious lines, by blatantly lying to the nation that a vote for the ANC is a ticket to heaven.

The ANC refuses to regard itself as an ordinary political party, bound by the ordinary rules of the political game. As Dr Anthea Jeffrey highlighted in her book Chasing the Rainbow: South Africa's Move from Mandela to Zuma, the ANC regards opposition parties as illegitimate and unnecessary, and as little more than an obstacle to the success of their national democratic revolution. President Zuma's comment once again speaks to the ANC's views on opposition politics in South Africa.

I believe President Zuma owes the nation an unreserved apology. We need to know, as we approach the upcoming local government elections, whether the ANC is still committed to multi-party democracy, or whether they have abandoned the democratic principles and values which once inspired our nation's founding fathers such as Dr Pixley Seme, Inkosi Albert Luthuli, Bishop Alphaeus Zulu, Walter Sisulu, and Nelson Mandela.

This is a matter that goes to the heart of our democracy, a matter which we cannot simply ignore.

Issued by the Inkatha Freedom Party, February 7 2011

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